At 10.3%, unemployment in Davison is higher than in 95% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Davison is behind 89% of U.S. towns. The two grades for Davison are C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Only 7% stay in Davison for work; outside it, Flint is the main destination (10%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Davison apart on work
Davison trades workers with the towns around it
Davison has about as many jobs (2,506) as working residents (2,087), but they are mostly different people: 1,935 residents leave for work each day while 2,354 people come in. Only 6% of the jobs in Davison are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Many jobs in Davison pay little
34% of the jobs based in Davison pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 42% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Davison
55% of Davison residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 33% of the jobs based in Davison pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2021, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; 2021 is the newest year Michigan has published.
Jobs & income in Davison: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Davison is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #615 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Davison’s grade up (ahead of 69% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
The commuting and job counts on this page are Census LEHD 2021: Michigan reports later than other states, so its newest year is two years behind.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Davison could be anywhere from D to C.
The daily flow of workers through Davison
On a workday 1,935 residents head out to work, 152 work right here, and 2,354 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.20 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
What work there is in Davison: 2,506 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Davison, 2011 → 2021: 2,460 → 2,506. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2021.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Davison’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where people from Davison work
Where Davison clocks in
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Commuting from Davison: about 27 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Davison workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,984 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Michigan: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Miles to work from Davison
About 18% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2021.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Davison
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Davison is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #82 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Davison near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,148 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 11.8% of Davison households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Davison’s commuters take a bus or train.
Davison next to U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,800: 3,166th of 3,758 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Northville MI | 6,013 | $146K | 2.8% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,164 | Avondale LA | 4,608 | $49K | 30.9% | 8.6% | 2% | C− |
| 3,165 | Grambling LA | 5,314 | — | 52.4% | 5.3% | 10% | C− |
| 3,166 | Davison MI | 5,039 | $49K | 16.1% | 10.3% | 7% | C− |
| 3,167 | Caldwell TX | 4,970 | $61K | 21.2% | 5.8% | 17% | C− |
| 3,168 | Cameron Park TX | 5,955 | $36K | 44.6% | 4.9% | <1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,758 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Davison, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2021, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Davison: questions
What is the median household income in Davison?
$48,814 (±$8,879) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Davison?
16.1%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Davison?
27 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Davison work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Flint (10%, 9 mi), Davison Township (6%, 2 mi), Lapeer (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Davison walkable?
Davison is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Davison without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Davison, from the people who make the trip.
More of Davison
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.